Banana Bread with Benefits

I’ve read on the internet somewhere that “lactation cookies” are a thing. This got me curious. What is a lactation cookie? Is it just a regular cookie with a gimmicky name? WTF does it all mean?

Once my friend, Narae, delivered her healthy and beautiful baby girl, I decided it was time to research some “lactation” recipes just to see what all this hubbub is about. I learned that Brewers Yeast is the common ingredient in all of the recipes I found, and honestly it sounded disgusting to me. I did some studying to understand why people use that ingredient. Here is what I came up with…

Brewers yeast is used for the fermentation process in beer production -no surprise there. It’s also widely used as a health supplement! Much like nutritional yeast, it is high in B vitamins, selenium and protein.

One 30 gram serving (two tablespoons) has 16 grams of protein, and almost your whole daily serving of thiamin (B1) and riboflavin (B2)

It’s no wonder why so many of these lactation support recipes include this power house ingredient! Nursing and taking care of newborns is extremely demanding on your body, so I’ve been told. Moms (and dads!) need all the help they can get with nutritionally dense and energizing foods.

So I scoured the internet to find a healthy and delicious sounding recipe. I came up with NOTHING. Most recipes included ingredients like refined flour, loads of sugar and butter. Just because new moms need a lot of calories for breast feeding is no reason to feed them crappy/empty ones!

So I developed my own recipe and I think it’s pretty damn good. It includes wholesome ingredients like brewers yeast, flax meal, coconut flour, and molasses. Even Matthew liked it! (no guys, you will not grow breasts from eating this banana bread) Anybody can eat it and benefit from its glory!

You can totally make this recipe without brewers yeast if you don’t feel like making a special trip to your local granola hippie health food store. 😉

Banana Bread with Benefits

Ingredients

2 large ripe bananas

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup milk (I prefer non dairy, unsweetened milk)

1/4 cup molasses (I used black strap – has more iron and other minerals)

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1.25 cups white whole wheat flour ( I like King Arthur )

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup flax meal

2 tbsp brewers yeast

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F

Mash bananas in large mixing bowl

Stir in the vanilla, eggs, honey, milk, molasses, and oil

in a smaller mixing bowl whisk together all of the dry ingredients

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet mixture in 2-3 stages. Use an electric mixer or a spoon like the old fashioned way stir until just combined.

Spray your favorite loaf pan and pour mixture in, smoothing out the top to make sure it bakes evenly.

Bake for around 40 min. This will vary depending on your oven. To tell if it’s done, tap the top of the loaf. If it feels firm, it’s done.

Cool, cut, and enjoy! It’s especially good with peanut butter spread on top…I have a peanut butter addiction.